AS Reflective analysis

Reflective analysis



My intention was to produce a short section of a film in a step outline which falls into the thriller and drama genre as it has conventions of both. I hoped to stimulate my audience’s mood and make them feel uncertain by choosing a realistic setting, characters and storyline.


My target audience would be teenagers so a 15 certificate would be appropriate as some violent, graphic and sexual scenes would be inappropriate for children. If it was certified lower, then this would be inappropriate to a lot of children under the age of 15 and would cause a lot of trouble and effect box office income.


Conventions of thriller that I included in my film was the unexpected suicide in scene 3, the urban setting of Bella's home and the unexpected hero of Meg. I chose the suicide of my character to happen at the beginning of the film so they could flashback on all the events leading up to it so the story would unravel as the film goes on. The suicide was in an isolated forest with no one to help. This would make the audience feel uneasy and unsettled, and included some suspicious behaviour in scene 5 as this is also a common thriller convention. The story behind the suicide is what brings in the conventions of a drama as it is a flashback on Bella's life.


I used a lot of close-ups throughout, this highlighted key emotions and important body parts which made it more personal to the audience and added tension. The suicide scene is very effective due to the use of close-ups and the increased diegetic sound of heavy breathing. I realised my using close-ups of body parts and the diegetic sound it creates a lot of tension for the audience. There is also the variety of long shots from different angles which appears to the audience like she is being watched and builds further tension.


I chose realistic settings, as I believe my audience will engage more with the piece if it is set in locations which they know and situations they could / have experienced. Settings I chose included a huge forest, the home of the main characters, and the school of my main character. However I do believe that by only using these first few locations in my sequence that it limited the storyline. To improve I would use more locations such as McDonalds during my sequence to make it easier for the audience to relate to.


I chose realistic characters, as I believe it would make it more believable and realistic so the audience would be more effected by the suicide and drama and make the audience feel like some of these situations may happen in their own lives. To improve in future I would introduce my characters a lot better so people can connect to the characters easier. I also used stereotypical characterisation as the girl was the victim but the plot is not predictable so I was happy with this choice.


I chose to use non diegetic and diegetic sound in my piece. I chose tense music for non-diegetic as it is a clear convention when trying to make the audience feel on edge. I used a lot of diegetic sound such as heavy breathing as it exaggerates the tension. I want to create a spine chilling experience for the thrill seeking audience.


I used low key lighting in the scenes of Bella in the forest but I used higher key lighting when it moved to the flashback. The low key lighting was used to show the isolation and desperation and I used high key lighting when moving to the flashback to show that this was before everything went wrong. To improve I would vary my lighting a little bit more in the opening scene to add more suspense and help make the plot less predictable.
My sequence has a non-linear story line as it starts at the end and flashes back to show how and why she ended up taking her life. In my final scene I start the flashback of Bella’s life to start to explain why this all happened. This is done to start the emotional journey the audience will go on with Bella. This would set of a curiosity with the audience of what both Jack and Meg both have to do with Bella’s death. The camera is used to create a two shot to show that Meg and Jack will be together.